Products are selected by our editors, we may earn commission from links on this page.
mcfw31
Margaret Qualley walked onto a London red carpet wearing Chanel, but one crucial piece of her outfit appeared to be missing: the soles of her shoes. At the Aug. 20 world premiere of The Dog Stars, the actor wore Chanel’s now-famous “barefoot sandals,” which leave the toes and most of the foot completely exposed. The unusual footwear quickly became the part of her look that people could not stop discussing.
Qualley paired the sandals with a black fringed Chanel dress, creating an otherwise polished red-carpet look. Down at her feet, however, thin black laces wrapped around her ankles and connected to small heel caps. Her bare soles made direct contact with the ground. Vogue described the design as essentially a “non-shoe,” and the distinction suddenly seemed surprisingly difficult to settle.
The reaction online split almost immediately. Some viewers treated the sandals as another example of luxury fashion pushing an ordinary object beyond recognition. Others saw exactly the kind of strange, playful experimentation that makes high fashion interesting. Jokes about paying for an incomplete shoe circulated alongside genuine praise for the design, turning Qualley’s feet into one of the premiere’s biggest talking points.
The Shoes Leave Almost the Entire Foot on the Ground
Chanel’s design takes minimal footwear to an extreme. The sandals have a small heel structure and thin straps or laces securing them around the ankle, while the front of the foot remains uncovered. There is no conventional sole protecting the toes or ball of the foot. That means Qualley was effectively walking barefoot across much of the hard surface outside the premiere, despite technically wearing designer heels.
That detail fueled some of the funniest criticism. One X user compared the reduced design to “shrinkflation,” while another joked that Chanel might “sell the front part” next season. An Instagram commenter similarly asked whether having less shoe meant paying half the price. The jokes landed because the sandals challenge something consumers normally consider fundamental: a shoe generally separates a foot from whatever happens to be underneath it.
Yet the same feature that baffled critics attracted supporters. One X user declared, “THIS is chic, to me,” while another called the sandals “kinda chic high key.” For those viewers, practicality was beside the point. Red carpets routinely feature clothes that would be difficult to wear during ordinary life. Qualley had taken an already provocative runway design and placed it somewhere millions more people would see it.
Chanel Had Already Divided Fashion Insiders With the Design
Qualley did not introduce the fashion world to the barefoot sandals. Designer Matthieu Blazy sent versions down the runway during Chanel’s Resort 2027 presentation in Biarritz, France, on April 28. Models crossed the sandy runway in delicate heel structures with their feet largely exposed. The shoes quickly competed with the clothes themselves for attention, and disagreement spread well beyond casual social-media observers.
Even Vogue staffers could not reach a united verdict after the runway debut. Some were intrigued by the surreal appearance and the way the design blurred the boundary between footwear and jewelry. Others struggled with the practical reality of walking around with exposed soles. Months before Qualley reached the London premiere, Chanel had already created a shoe capable of splitting people who analyze fashion professionally.
The setting of Chanel’s original show also matters. Biarritz is a seaside resort with deep ties to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who opened a couture house there in the early 20th century. Vogue France connected Blazy’s barely-there sandals with the collection’s themes of seaside freedom and unconventional elegance. On sand, the strange construction suddenly had some visual logic. London pavement presented a considerably tougher test.
Qualley Turned a Runway Curiosity Into a Red-Carpet Argument
Qualley was an unusually fitting celebrity to give the sandals their major red-carpet moment. She has a long relationship with Chanel and regularly wears the fashion house at public appearances. Her personal style also tends to accommodate less conventional choices. Instead of softening Blazy’s runway idea for a movie premiere, she wore the exposed-foot design where photographers could capture every unusual detail.
The choice also highlights the gap between runway fashion and everyday clothing. Vogue reported that the sandals were not available through Chanel’s website at the time of Qualley’s appearance, making questions about ordinary wear somewhat theoretical. Their immediate purpose was far more visible: they created an unmistakable image, generated debate, and made a familiar black red-carpet outfit impossible to overlook.
That may be the clearest way to understand the argument surrounding them. Chanel produced a design that leaves out the part most people consider essential to a shoe, then Margaret Qualley wore it before a wall of cameras. Some people saw elegance, others saw absurdity, and both reactions kept the sandals at the center of the conversation. For a fashion object built around almost nothing, they managed to command an extraordinary amount of attention.